Opinion: Texans have zero need for Christian Hackenberg

Opinion: Texans have zero need for Christian Hackenberg

Christian Hackenberg is once again up for grabs. And once again, the Houston Texans need to ignore his ties to coach Bill O’Brien and leave the quarterback for others.

Hackenberg was dumped by the Oakland Raiders after exactly one minicamp practice session. He was claimed by Oakland and coach Jon Gruden, who fawned over him egregiously in his popular “QB Camp” TV show on ESPN during his broadcast days, after the New York Jets gave up on their second-round pick in 2016.

“Hack” has yet to play a single down in the NFL. He is the first second-round (or higher) QB pick in league history to not see the field once in his first two seasons.

There has been a pervasive school of thought that reuniting with O’Brien will coax out the one-time prominent potential. Hackenberg had his best results at Penn State under O’Brien as a freshman starter. A mega-recruit coming out of Fork Union Prep Academy, he threw 20 touchdown passes to 10 interceptions while completing 58 percent of his passes, many to future NFL standout Allen Robinson.

He’s never come close to being that good since. In New York, he was given every chance to win the starting job, and then the backup job. He was never better than Bryce Petty or Geno Smith or what was left of Josh McCown or Ryan Fitzpatrick. In Oakland, they didn’t even need a second practice to know he was wasting their time.

The Texans don’t need to waste that time on Hackenberg. Brandon Weeden might not be great, but he’s more accurate, more poised and a well-liked teammate. He knows the offense and has experience leading the Texans, should the tragedy strike and force him to play in place of Deshaun Watson. Third-stringer Joe Webb also has experience and athleticism (he also plays wide receiver) to run the Watson-style RPO offense.

Hard pass, Houston.

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